It was the sole survivor of the primeval forest that had once crowned the height on which it stood.

Held firm by its great, wide-reaching roots, which fastened themselves in the crannies of the rock, it had thus far defied the elements.

Its trunk half hid a cavernous opening in the mountainside, before which lay a large stone basin partly filled with water.
"Here we will rest awhile, beside the Wonder Spring," said Zenobia, leaping from her horse and loosening her saddle-girth.

"We'll take a bite of lunch and let our animals graze; then later we will water them." "How can we ?" asked Blanka.

"There is scarcely any water here." "There will be enough before long," was the reply.